The November jobs report took everyone by surprise again, although this should not be the case anymore, as the monthly employment snapshot continually surprises everyone.
That said, the U.S. economy added 263,000 new jobs, higher than the market estimate of 200,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent. Average hourly earnings climbed to 5.1 percent. Average weekly hours dipped to 34.4. The labor force participation rate dipped to 62.1 percent.
Leisure and hospitality, the sustenance component of the U.S. economy, led the way with 88,000 new jobs. This was followed by health care (45,000), government (42,000), and construction (20,000). The retail sector lost 30,000 jobs, and transportation and warehousing shed 15,000 positions.
Investors lost their heads, with the leading benchmark indexes sliding between one and two percent at the opening bell, primarily because they think this would push the Federal Reserve to be more aggressive in tightening. This is unlikely to happen at this point, the tightening cycle has likely peaked and the FOMC will pull the trigger on a half-point increase at this month’s policy meeting.
But the monthly snapshot of the labor market pointed to how inflation is impacting households.
Last month, the number of people working two or more jobs surged to 7.7 million, up from 7.18 million at the same time a year ago.
Although the consumer price index (CPI) eased to 7.7 percent in October, consumers are paying so much more for a broad array of goods and services, especially food, energy, and shelter.
Suffice it to say, they need to work two or more jobs to put food on the table for mother and baby.
The November jobs report might be a great set of numbers politically for President Joe Biden, but it could be a misleading metric at this stage: the manufacturing sector is in a recession, the housing market is in a recession, half the country is living paycheck to paycheck, and inflation is still at a 40-year high.
Still, this is a chaotic post-pandemic economy.
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